Lemons

Today I made a lemon meringue pie out of these lemons. It was a pretty involved process and required more than my usual improv style of cooking. With this pie you have to follow the directions closely or it won't turn out like it's supposed to. It took the better part of three hours, so for all that effort I hope it turned out well!

I suppose I could have cut corners and it wouldn't have taken so long, but I don't like frozen pie crust, it's so much better if you make it from scratch. Besides, I really enjoy cooking.

As I was squeezing the lemons the scent of them brought back memories from childhood. My great grandma had a lemon tree that produced the kind of lemons I used today. They're not the regular kind from the grocery store. These are smaller, sweeter, and have a very thin skin. I think they're Myer lemons, but I'm not sure.

My siblings, cousins, and I would pick lemons from Grandma's tree and squeeze the juice into
buckets to make "lemonade" for lemonade stands that never materialized. I remember the juice stinging little scrapes and cuts on my fingers, but not minding because afterwards, even after washing my hands, they smelled like Grandma's lemons. I wish I could bottle that scent. More realistically, maybe I should just plant a tree!